Home shipments are increasing. Practically anything can be purchased online now. Amazon, eBay, and other online retailers offer everyday necessities, electronics, entertainment items, jewelry, collectibles, pharmaceuticals, etc. Thus, more and more people are relying on online retailers for products, greatly increasing the frequency of delivery for many people. Many of these items are delivered during the day while many people are at work. Unfortunately, “porch pirates” prey on these packages, and have even been seen following delivery trucks and simply walking up to the porch and taking the package as soon as the delivery person drives away.
There have been some methods used to prevent these thefts, such as holding packages as the post office and mailboxes with locks. However, holding packages at the post office is a great inconvenience, and not all the packages are even being sent through the United States Postal Service (USPS). Regarding locks on mailboxes, some neighborhoods or complexes have centralized locking mail boxes that may accommodate packages, but these are only accessible by USPS personnel. And personal locking mailboxes typically only accommodate letter sided envelopes.
As a result, many packages are left on the porches of residences during the day while the intended recipients are at work or away from their homes. The packages can be left unattended for hours, all the while susceptible to being stolen.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,342,347 B2 describes a collapsible container with a sliding lock feature and removable side walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,575 B1 describes methods and apparatus for unattended pickups and deliveries. The lockable unit includes a complicated locking and unlocking system, but no foldable or collapsing receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,815 describes a collapsible box. The device does not seem to be easily mountable, it includes an inner sleeve, and differs substantially in ability to function and structure that not all the pieces are permanently connected, either via hinges or otherwise.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,673,769 describes a collapsible ballot box. The device is a portable, collapsible ballot box, intended to be taken to polling stations. It is not mountable, nor does it offer the same ability to function or ease of use.
None of the prior art fully addresses the problems resolved by the present invention. The present invention overcomes these limitations contained in the prior art by providing a collapsible container that is mountable, sturdy, easy to use, inexpensive, and weatherproof, that provides a safe and secure location for packages to be left unattended for later retrieval by the intended recipient.
Certain embodiments of the invention have other steps or elements in addition to or in place of those mentioned above. The steps or element will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description when taken with reference to the accompanying figures.